My ex-father-in-law and ex-Mother-in-Law call me EVERY YEAR on my birthday. You cannot be more validated than that!
Yeah, it still get the invite to all the extended ex-in-laws Christmas gatherings.
My ex mother-in-law told my daughter (her granddaughter from when I was married to her daughter) that she wishes her daughter had stuck with me or found someone like me to end up with. I wasn't an angel in my first marriage, but it is nice (in a sad way) for my ex's mother to grasp that.
Mine apologized to me.